PB landscape reborn in cartoons

From Town Hall to odd-shaped hedges, tours of island make lasting imprint on drawings.

Some of my earliest memories are of riding in the family car as my parents gave visiting friends a tour of Palm Beach. They’d drive from one end of the island to the other, pointing out various landmarks and mansions and tell stories about them. There is something about living in this beautiful area that makes you want to become a tour guide.

Eventually, I started giving tours myself. When college friends came home with me during break, the first thing I’d do is say, “Let’s go for a ride so I can show you around.” I dare say that I’ve participated in 100 tours of the island.

This has had its effect on my cartoons, which have been filled with Palm Beach landmarks and scenes over the years. Sometimes, I have used specific landmarks as the focal point for cartoons. One such recurring location is the Town Hall and Memorial Fountain, which I have repainted differently on many occasions, to represent town government.

I always felt this was a great way to present what happened in Town Hall — framing the often nit-picky controversies within the charming beauty of the place.

The Mar-a-Lago tower, front gates and courtyard have appeared in numerous cartoons as well. Obviously, many of those were cartoons about the exploits of Donald Trump. But the tower is also Palm Beach’s most recognized landmark, so I’ve used it to symbolize the town for other stories as well.

The Breakers, the Royal Poinciana Playhouse, Whitehall, Worth Avenue, Royal Poinciana Way storefronts, the Midtown public beach sea wall, the entrance to the former Kennedy house, Peanut Island and many other locations have been illustrated in my cartoons — sometimes because it was integral to the story and sometimes just to provide the right atmosphere or general location.

I have used reference photographs when it was important to get the details right, but often the locations just flow from my memory to manifest themselves in loosely rendered backgrounds. This even includes some aerial views assembled from mental recall for stories about bridge closings and political districts with many recognizable landmarks visible and properly in place.

Even the plants of Palm Beach have had their day in my cartoons. There was the giant Four Arts banyan that died and went to Vegas and the coconut palms receiving injections for lethal yellowing, and several cartoons have made reference to the oddly shaped hedges of ficus and Australian pine around town.

I never really gave it much thought when I was doing the cartoons, but now it is clear to me that, in a very real sense, I’ve been giving readers a cartoon tour of Palm Beach.
No wonder I’ve been having so much fun.